As the scale of emerging technology risks facing companies continue to multiply, IT auditors play a key role in identifying these threats and helping their organizations to navigate them. A new survey conducted by Protiviti and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) reveals which risks are keeping IT auditors up at night.

Zero trust is top of mind for most organizations as a critical strategy to reduce risk, but few organizations have actually completed zero-trust implementations. Gartner, Inc. predicts that by 2026, 10% of large enterprises will have a mature and measurable zero-trust program in place, up from less than 1% today.

Cyberthreats and IT governance are top risk areas for internal auditors to address in their audit plans for 2023, according to Gartner, Inc. The Gartner 2023 Audit Plan Hot Spots Report identifies the top 12 risk focus areas for Chief Audit Executives (CAEs) to help them identify risks to their organizations and plan audit coverage for the coming year.

As the industry comes to grips with the highly disruptive implications of a once-in-a-generation pandemic event, executives are bracing themselves for continued volatility as incidences of unprecedented weather events rise, and bad actors target critical infrastructures with malware and ransomware attacks.

The volume, sophistication, and diversity of cyber threats are unrelenting problems for companies’ internal information security teams. The combination of escalating cyber risks and security personnel shortages propels market demand and presents challenges for organizations.

Cyber risks are far more costly events for small and medium-sized enterprises than for larger organizations, according to a recent analysis by Arceo.ai, provider of end-to-end cyber risk analytics and insurance platform.